St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-09-18

man brought in few days ago suffering
from compound fracture between the
ankle and knee joints, caused by der
rick falling upon him, but he
was making good progress and
his leg would be as sound as ever
in the course of month or six weeks.
a number of men hobbling around the
rooms on crutcheS were convaleScing
rapidly, and some of them were putting
their feet to the floor for the first time
in weeks, but in no instance was there
prospect of permanent disability or
lameneSS.
Outside the rain was splashing great
pools and there was an occasional dash
against the window panes, but inside
the wards it was as bright and cheerful
as could be expected, and the absence of
the odor so customary in hospitals was
remarked by many of the patients and
the visitors. Upstairs in the female
apartments there were nearly a score of
patients in bed, most of them from the
effects of typhoid fever, which the doc
tor said haM been very prevalent this
season. Not only was this true of the
poorer classes, but people who lived on
higher ground and in finer houses were
not free from the unwelcome visitant.
A small room at the head of the stair
way leading to the female wards was
Inspected and proved to be a pharmacy
Office and reception room all in one, but
when the addition to the hospital is
built there will be an improvement of
this condition of affairs. At present
there are fifty-two patients under treat
ment at the hospital in the eight wards
into which it is divided and during the
past month but three deaths were re-
corded, one of them stillbirth.
10 on arr,ln 4OI
that the most sanguine of our inmates
are the consumptives, and they never
come to us until in the last stages of the
disease, for which / do not think there
is any cure. Recently we tried the gas
treatment, so favOrably commended by
the French school of physicians, but we
did not make any perceptible Roadway.
After the hospital proper had been
thoroughly ransacked, including the
kitchen, dining room and sitting rooms
for cOnvaleScentS, attention was called
to red brick building, the corner stone
of which bore the inscription, 1885,"
'sThat is the new founding hospital"
said the physician, s'but we have no
body in there at present, although there
is no telling when we will have de-
mand for it. Singularly enough we
have no children here, although usually
we have three or four playing about the
wards"
''What becomes of them? They are
adopted by people who come here for
that express purpose. Some of them
have either lost their little ones, or else
they have never been blessed with these
household treasures, and adopt pretty
child at the first opportunity. That re-
calls an instance that occurred here a
short time ago, in which woman de.
serted her baby, and, when detected,
refused to recognize it in any way. The
child was born in the hospital, and the
mother. as soon as she was able to leave
the Institution, wanted us to keep the
infant. This we declined to do. and
she very reluctantly took it away with
her. That night the little one was left
on the doorstep of the house of a lead
ing citizen of st. Paul and was
taken in and tenderly cared for. The
next morning it was returned to the
hospital and was recognized by one of
the attendants, who took measures to
have the mother appfehended. When
she was confronted with the offspring
she denied emphatically that it was
hers, and, although we were fully con-
WINGED that she was lying, we had to let
her go away alone. 1t was pretty lit
tie black-eyed girl, and the same after
noon an elderly connle visiting the hos.